Sacred Trust. These two words have become my life motto. They capture my understanding of my most core values.
Maybe I'm just getting old but everywhere I look I see that life is fragile and temporary. It is a Sacred Trust given to us by God. Sacred (God) Trust (We control it but don't own it)
What does that mean in real life?
First I've decide that All of Life is Sacred but not all of it is religious. I used to think life was divide into sacred and secular but more and more I see that life itself is sacred. There is something Holy about the mundane, run of the mill stuff that happens all the time. Something spiritual about even the ordinary stuff of life. To be alive is to participate in the sacred life of God.
Are some parts of life more intentionally sacred than others? Sure, corporate worship services bring me into God's presence in a way that nothing else can. Sacrificially serving others connects me with God in ways I can not explain. I get that there are times when sacredness is obvious and almost tangible. But I also find that when I am willing to open my spiritual eyes (harder than it sounds) I see God at work in the most commonplace chores of life.
Second, believing that life is a Trust means that I have some responsibility. I'm not talking about the whole -- earn your way into heaven thing. Turns out both life and eternal life are a love gift from God. You can't earn them. You can only graciously accept them. I say life is a trust I'm talking about a father giving his child a great treasure and then standing back to see what the child will do with it.
Will they ignore it and let it decay? Will they abuse it and destroy it? Will they use it up selfishly on their own pleasure? Will they be well intentioned but unwise with it? Or maybe they will see the gift as a trust to be carefully used for the betterment of the whole family. Maybe they will use it to make other's lives better and provide for the ones they love.A Trust -- is simply the verb form of the noun trust. It means someone gives someone else something of great value and then trusts them to do the right thing with it. In some ways trust really isn't trust until it becomes a verb.
God has put stuff in my hand and yours. We often call those things blessings and I have been given a ton of them. My parents left a great legacy by giving me a warm, loving, supportive home in which to grow up. I have been blessed with a great home in my own generation with a wonderful wife and two amazing kids. I've been given an education and lots of diverse experiences. I've been blessed to be the leader of a really great church and a people that love me even though I'm not that cool pastor down the street. Most of all I've been blessed with Spiritual life from God.
So what has God Blessed into your life? What gifts from your heavenly father do you hold in your hand? I suspect He is watching with a smile and sense of expectation, eagerly anticipating your moves. Like all good parents applause and praise come easily and correction is about helping you not harming you.
So the question remains... If life is a Sacred Trust, and it is... what do you want to do with yours?
If you want to learn more about leaving a strong Legacy I invite you to check out our teachings series. We are calling it "Legacy, Living for something more than yourself."
You can watch online at
http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermon-video
Listen to audio or download a podcast at http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons/serie/13-legacy
You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
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